MINELRES: ERRC: Wave of Racially-Targeted Housing Destruction in Turkey
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[email protected]
Fri Sep 29 21:31:02 2006
Original sender: European Roma Rights Centre <[email protected]>
Civil Society Action to Halt Forced Evictions of Roma in Turkey
On 21 September 2006, the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), acting
in partnership with Turkey-based civil society organizations the
Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, Accessible Life Foundation, Sulukule
Romani Culture, Solidarity and Development Association, and EDROM,
sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Turkey calling for the Prime
Minister's urgent attention and interference to halt the ongoing
execution of forced evictions of Romani communities until a
reasonable solution to the housing situation of the affected families
is found. On the basis of an ongoing monitoring of the situation in
several neighbourhoods in Istanbul with large numbers of Romani
residents, the organisations noted that forced evictions of Roma have
been carried out in gross violation of Turkey's obligations under
international human rights law. Hundreds of Romani individuals have
been exposed to homelessness and extremely substandard conditions,
lacking basic sanitary and hygiene necessities. In some instances
police used pepper spray against Romani individuals, including women
and children.
The victims of the forced evictions carried out in Istanbul and
elsewhere in Turkey are also threatened with deprivation of other
basic rights. According to reports, in some instances, Romani
children of evicted families have had problems enrolling at school
due to the refusal by local authorities to provide them with
residence certificates. Extreme impoverishment of Romani families
aggravated by the forced evictions also poses serious obstacles for
access to school.
The full text of the letter can be read at:
www.erc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2626
_____________________________________________
The European Roma Rights Centre is an international public interest
law organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal
defence in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about
the European Roma Rights Centre, visit the ERRC on the web at
http://www.errc.org.
European Roma Rights Centre
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary
Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1 4132201
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